


feel it in my fingers

by tusktooth



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Multi, Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Canon, Songwriting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26576929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tusktooth/pseuds/tusktooth
Summary: Luke can feel a song forming in his mind but he's not sure that it's about Julie.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson/Reggie
Comments: 17
Kudos: 259





	feel it in my fingers

**Author's Note:**

> luke is trans in this bc i said so <3 im not putting it in the tags bc it's not the topic of the fic and i shouldn't have to tag every time i include a trans character lmao
> 
> im fully spiraling over this show so feel free to yell abt it w me on [tumblr](http://adaine.tumblr.com/)

Luke couldn’t stop tapping his feet to a beat that he didn’t recognize, a telltale sign that a new song was emerging in his head. It wasn’t yet at the point where lyrics were playing at his lips or a melody was tingling at his fingertips, but there was definitely a song on its way. It was welcome too. Ever since he and Julie had fallen into the more comfortable stage of their relationship, he had been pretty low on strong emotions to get out. That wasn’t to say that it wasn’t good, it really was. They cared about each other a lot, it just had taken a toll on his songwriting. It was okay, though. Julie still had plenty of strong emotions to get out through music about her mom and about school and about ex-friends so, until he found his music again, he was more than happy to help her with hers.

But still, the prospect of creating something new of his own inspiration was incredibly exciting. He was proud of the songs that he’d written and couldn’t wait to add another to the list.

“What’s that?” Reggie asked as he collapsed onto the couch next to Luke, gesturing toward the tapping of his feet.

“A new song,” he replied with a smile. “It’s been a while but I think I’m getting it back.”

Reggie was now smiling widely with him. “What’s it about?”

He shrugged. “Not sure yet. Right now it’s just a beat.”

“Well, it’s a really nice beat,” he told him.

Somehow, Luke’s smile widened. “Thanks, Reg.”

Alex appeared in front of them and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the two of them sitting on the couch together. “Am I interrupting something?”

Luke furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“I-” he started. “Nevermind. What’s going on?”

“Luke is writing a song,” Reggie explained.

“About what?” Alex asked.

“No idea,” he told him. “As I told Reggie it currently only exists as like half a beat. I’m hoping the rest of the song comes along soon.”

“I mean you never write music unless you’re having some sort of emotional moment,” Alex pointed out. “Maybe if you try to figure out what that is, you’ll be able to write more of the song.”

“This song must be different. Nothing has really happened to change my life in any way. I just woke up and this beat was in my head,” he explained and then tapped it out for him.

“It is pretty good,” Alex admitted. “I’d give it a go on the drums but Julie’s aunt is in the house cleaning or something so it’s gonna be a no-go on playing without Julie home.”

“Maybe seeing her will help!” Luke exclaimed, shooting up out of his seat. “I mean the song is probably about her, right? She’s my girlfriend after all.”

“Yeah, sure,” Reggie replied with a smile that seemed vaguely stilted.

Alex looked between the two of the moment for a moment before turning to Luke. “Yeah. I definitely think that talking to Julie might be a good move. I mean, even if the song isn’t about her, she’s smarter than pretty much all of us, right?”

“There’s no pretty much about that,” he replied. “She’s smart and she’s talented and she’s beautiful and she-”  
Alex snorted. “Yeah, we get it and we _know_ Luke. We’re her friends, remember?”

“I’m gonna try that one next time you start going on about Willie,” Reggie piped in from the couch, earning him a light smack on the back of the head. “What the hell?”

“Tell Julie that we said hi,” Alex told him, ignoring Reggie’s complaints.

“Will do,” he replied with a laugh. “See you two later.”

And then he walked out through the door before poofing because it still felt weird too just poof out in the middle room without intentionally trying to make a dramatic exit.

* * *

“Julie!” Luke shouted from across the classroom she was sitting in, gesturing wildly toward her.

_ What are you doing here? _ she mouthed slowly.

He pointed toward the door. “I need your help with something real quick. Can we talk? It’s only going to be like two minutes. Also, the guys say hi.”

She tried to subtly gesture around her at the classroom as she shook her head.

“Julie?” the teacher asked, causing every student in the room to turn and look at her. “Are you alright?”

Flynn had her hand on her mouth, clearly having realized what was going on and trying not to laugh out loud.

“Uh, no. I’m fine,” Julie stuttered, plastering on a tight smile and briefly meeting Luke’s eyes. “I just forgot to turn off my phone and felt it vibrate but forgot where I put it so I could turn it off. Clearly,  _ somebody _ knows that they shouldn’t attempt to contact me when I’m trying to focus on learning.”

The teacher raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on it. “Well, I would appreciate in the future if you made sure to turn your phone off before class so that you don’t disrupt my teaching.”

“Yes, of course,” she said with a nod. “I’m very sorry ma’am.”

She turned around and continued teaching.

“So, is that a no on asking to go to the bathroom so that we can talk?” he asked.

She pointedly ignored him and started jotting down notes about whatever was on the board.

“Really?” he asked, glancing toward the clock as he strode across the room toward her. “There’s like a full twenty minutes until lunch. This is  _ important _ .”

She jotted “emergency?” up in the top corner of her paper.

He shook his head. “I mean, not really. But like I really want to talk to you as soon as possible! And wouldn’t it be better with the halls empty?”

“you can wait” she wrote below it.

He groaned. “I’m going to be so  _ bored _ just sitting here and waiting. And I can’t just poof back home without results because I told Alex and Reggie that I was coming here to chat with you.”

She didn’t say or write anything other than notes about what the teacher was writing on the whiteboard.

He slid into an empty desk near the back of the room and tried to listen to the lesson because he had nothing better to do. It wasn’t even one of Julie’s interesting music classes, it was a  _ math _ class, far beyond the level he was at before he dropped out of high school to dedicate his time to Sunset Curve.

Instead, he found himself listlessly daydreaming without even really processing his thoughts, a familiar feeling from what he remembered of his high school career.

At some point, he had started quietly humming but he hadn’t realized that he was until he heard the sound of whispers around him. Right, his music could be heard by everyone and that, apparently, also applied to some harmless humming.

If they didn’t forget about it by the end of class, Julie was going to be pissed. But it could have been anything, technically. A lot of things can make a quiet humming sound. Like an air conditioning unit, a refrigerator, or, more likely to have credibility in this scenario, an unspecified distant classroom watching a movie.

He tried to mentally sing the tune in his head without humming it aloud, which was surprisingly difficult to do, and tried to see if there was anywhere he recognized it from. It definitely wasn’t from an existing Sunset Curve or Julie and the Phantoms song and he didn’t  _ think _ that he had heard it from anywhere else. Though, it was hard to say when you were catching up on 25 years of music in such a short period of time.

And then he tried to pair it with the beat from earlier. While it was  _ extremely _ difficult to keep silent while doing this, it actually worked. He had been writing their next sone without even realizing it.

Luke lept out of his chair and rushed towards Julie. “I  _ really _ need to tell you about this.”

She sighed and raised her hand.

“Yes, Julie?” the teacher asked.

“May I please go to the bathroom,” she said politely.

“There are only five minutes until lunch,” she replied with an eyebrow raised.

“It’s an emergency,” she told her, making a subtle gesture toward her backpack.

The teacher nodded in understanding. “Go ahead, Julie.”

Julie grabbed her backpack and walked out the door and down the hall towards the girl’s bathroom.

“I really can’t go in there,” he said, stopping outside the bathroom with wide eyes.

She rolled her eyes. “Nobody is going to see you. Besides, it’ll hopefully be empty anyway so we can just talk.”

“No, Julie, I  _ really _ can’t go in there,” he said, gesturing toward his body.

Her eyes widened. “Oh. Shit, I’m sorry, Luke. I forgot. God, I’m like the worst girlfriend in the world.”

“No, you’re fantastic,” he said with a shake of his head. “If anything, your first thought about my reasoning for not going into the bathroom being because of potential embarrassment or disrespect to people inside instead of just because I’m trans and it makes me uncomfortable is a minor confidence booster.”

“As if  _ you _ need a confidence boost,” she said with a roll of her eyes before walking down the hall looking into rooms.

She found an empty classroom not far away but it was locked.

“I got it,” he replied, poofing to the other side and opening the door for her.

“Mr. Lang’s class is on a field trip today so there shouldn’t be anyone bothering us,” she explained as they made their way to a spot in the classroom where she couldn’t be seen through the small window on the door.

“I’m writing a song!” he announced excitedly.

“Really?” she asked, seemingly unimpressed. “About what?”

“Julie, I haven’t written a song on my own since like the week we got together,” he told her.

Her eyes widened. “Really? Oh shit.”

“There’s that excitement that I needed,” he said with a grin. “And I have no idea what it’s about yet. Usually, that comes first but this time, that’s apparently not the case. I assume it’s about you, though. It’s super happy and upbeat. Has to be about us, right?”

“Well, if it is, I’m super excited to hear it,” she said with a smile.

“Let me show you what I have so far.”

“Quietly?” 

He winked at her. “But of course.”

Tapping out the rhythm as he went along, Luke hummed the new melody for her, closing his eyes to feel the music as he went.

When he opened his eyes, she was smiling widely and silently clapping.

“That was really good!” she exclaimed. “There aren’t even words yet and I’m ready to start singing.”

“Really?”

“Really,” she confirmed with a nod. “I hadn’t realized that you hadn’t written in anything in a while but now I realize why: you were saving it up for this. I can already tell that it’s going to be a huge hit, Luke!”

“The boys think that if I figure out what it’s really about, the words will come to me,” he told her. “Any ideas based on just that?”

She shrugged. “Sorry, Luke. It’s definitely an upbeat song, though. Whatever it’s about, it really makes you happy.”

“Do you think it’s about us?” he asked.

“Maybe,” she replied. “You seem pretty convinced that it’s a love song so that’s probably what it is. Love is clearly something that’s on your mind right now if you keep bringing it up.”

“So if I try to explore more about the things I love, I might be able to come up up with the words?”

“No idea,” she said. “I mean the other stuff just kind of came to you, right? The words might do that too. Especially if you sit down to actually work on the song.”

“Will you help me with it after school?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Sorry, but I have plans with Flynn already. We have a project to work on together for class and then we’re going to have a sleepover at her place.”

He put on his best pouty face. “But can’t you come work on the song with me for a little bit first.”

Julie snorted. “You’re ridiculous. Just have the guys help me.”

“But I always get distracted when I write with them,” he complained. “You help me focus.”

“You’ll figure it out,” she said, going up onto her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “Now, I’ve gotta get to lunch before it’s too late. They have mozzarella sticks today.”

“See you tomorrow, then?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’ll be back in the morning at some point. Then if you still need help, we can work on the song together.”

“I love you. Even if you are abandoning me,” he told her.

She laughed. “I love you too, Luke.”

* * *

Alex was out with Willie so Luke spent some time writing with Reggie and, okay, when you put Luke and Reggie together, you did  _ not _ get much in terms of productivity. They spent about half an hour spying on Julie’s dad as did taxes until he left to go to Carlos’ soccer game which was as boring as it sounds and then played basketball for a bit after that.

But, eventually, they got to writing and they actually got some stuff done. They hashed out the melody and a bit more of the beat, though he’d need to talk to Alex to finish that, and figured out a sick bass line to go with it.

They were just about to start on the lyrics when Alex poofed in.

“How was your date?” Luke asked.

Alex’s cheeks flushed red. “It was nice.”

He snorted. “You two have been together for like forever now. You don’t need to be so embarrassed when I bring him up.”

“I’m not embarrassed,” he replied. “I just really like him, you know?”

“Yeah, we know,” Reggie said.

“Anyway,” Alex started, reaching back to scratch at the back of his neck. “Is the song coming along alright?”

“It’s going really well!” he told him. “I don’t know, it was like me and Reggie started working together and it all just came pouring out of me.”

“That’s great! Any lyrics yet?”

“That was what we were going to work on next,” he told him. “Well, or finishing up the beat, now that you’re here. I wish Julie was here to help with lyrics. She’s the best at that stuff.”

“I don’t think I can focus on writing anymore,” Reggie said, setting his bass against the wall. “I’m gonna go mess with people at coffee shops. You two can work on the beat.”

He poofed out suddenly.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “What’s his deal right now?”

“No idea,” Luke said with a shrug. “He wasn’t like this when we were working on the song together.”

He chewed on his lip for a moment but nodded. “I’m sure that he’ll tell us when he figures it out.”

Alex flopped back against the couch. “Show me what you got so far?”

“Like the beat?” he asked.

“No, the melody,” Alex replied. “I’m in a lyrical mood right now so maybe I can help you on that front since you’ve already got a base for the beat anyway.”

“Alright,” he said, picking up his guitar and strumming out what he had worked on with Reggie all afternoon.

When he finished, Alex was smiling. “That was really good, Luke. Definitely one of your best songs yet. You and Reggie make a really great team.”

“I mean, he’s my best friend,” he replied. “Tied with you, of course.”

“Of course,” he said. “Now what’s flying around your head in terms of lyrics? Any lines or imagery or anything?”

Luke thought for a moment. “I think that I want there to be something along the lines of, well, you know when you’re a little kid and you just want to know all the answers and you’re frustrated because nobody will tell you anything and then you grow up and realize that you still don’t have the answers and that truth is something that has to be lived and explored and maybe there is no right answer or maybe there’s more than one answer that’s right but you still want to scream because you want the answer and there’s still nobody there to tell you the truth? Something like that.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “I know the feeling, that’s a lot to unpack, and that in no way fits the mood of the song you’re writing. Like if this was an angry punk song, you would have it down but this is a cheerful song and probably a love song, so I think you’re frustrated with something else right now, and either it’s blocking your writing or you need to be writing something entirely different. Why don’t you reset your brain and try again.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, something he had used to write songs before, back in the 90s. “I see bright blue eyes, furrowed eyebrows, hiding from fights rather than facing them, leading with your heart and letting everything else follow. The feeling of when you invite the kid sitting alone to the lunch table except it’s because you’ve seen them sitting alone and you always thought they looked cool and wanted to talk to them but didn’t want to make them feel embarrassed and then they turn out to be just as cool as you thought and you get stuck on their smile.”

“Do you realize who the song is about now?” Alex asked.

His eyes snapped open. “I mean, I thought it was about Julie but none of that really fits her. Oh god, is it about you? Maybe I have some old baggage that I never unpacked about our breakup and didn’t realize that was there.”

Alex tried to subtly laugh into his hand but it was in no way subtle.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “You know something that I don’t. Spill.”

“Luke,” he bit the inside of his cheek, seemingly in an effort to stop laughing. “You were talking about  _ Reggie _ .”

“I wasn’t talking about-” he started before fully processing the thoughts that he’d relayed to Alex. “Oh shit.”

“I didn’t want to call it out before because I didn’t want to overstep but like yeah,” he replied. “You two have been tiptoeing around each other since the 90s and it’s only ramped up since we came back.”

“Oh my god.” Luke flopped back onto the couch with wide eyes. “What about Julie? Have I been lying to her this entire time?”

“Do you still like Julie?” Alex asked.

“I mean,  _ yeah _ ,” he replied. “She’s like the most perfect girl in the world. I love her a lot. But I’m apparently the worst boyfriend in the world because I’ve spent the last day writing a love song about my best friend instead, who I’ve clearly liked for a long time without realizing it.”

“I mean, it’s not like you’re cheating on her,” Alex reasoned. “Talk to her about it. The only way that you’re going to hurt her is by hiding it. She knows about the song. You can’t take that part back.”

He stood up straight. “I need to talk to her now. I’m gonna poof over to Flynn’s.”

“Are you sure she didn’t want space to just hang with her best friend for a night?” he asked.

Luke shook his head. “She did but I need to do this. I won’t be able to focus on anything else until I do.”

Alex smiled. “Well, good luck. I know that she’ll be understanding.”

“Thanks, Alex,” he said with a nod before poofing across town.

* * *

Luke had forgotten exactly where Flynn lived so he tried about three different houses before he found it but, once he did, there were Julie and Flynn, sitting on the latter’s bed and eating pizza with sheets of music spread out between them.

“Julie,” he said, tapping on her shoulder from behind.

She nearly screamed but covered her mouth before she could and turned around. “Seriously, Luke?”

“Luke’s here?” Flynn asked, looking around as if she’d suddenly be able to see him. “Tell him I said hi.”

He waved at her. “Hi, Flynn.”

Julie rolled her eyes. “He can hear you and he also says hi. I just don’t know what he’s doing here when I told him that we had a project to do tonight.”

“It’s an emergency,” he told her. “Like a real emergency. I was working on the song with Alex and-”

She crossed her arms. “Luke, your song is  _ not _ an emergency. I’m really happy that you’re writing again but I need some time to just chill with my best friend. You can’t be popping into my school and then here and demanding my immediate attention.”

“It’s about us,” he explained quickly.

Her eyes widened and she turned to Flynn. “Give me a minute.”

Julie grabbed her phone and walked downstairs and out the door, sitting on the porch with it up to her here. “So, what’s going on, Luke?”

“Let me preface this with I’m  _ not _ breaking up with you,” he told her. “Though, you might want to break up with me, which is valid even if I extremely discourage that behavior because I kind of love you, Julie.”

She smiled a bit. “Just get on with it.”

“The song wasn’t about you,” he explained with a sigh. “It was about Reggie.”

“Okay?”

“Because I like Reggie,” he continued. “And I think that he might like me too. But I still love you. It’s all really confusing.”

“Have you talked to Reggie about it?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I wanted to talk to you first. To see where you stand about all of this.”

She nodded. “Thank you for that. I guess my answer is that it’s okay with me if you date Reggie.”

“But I think you didn’t hear me,” he said. “I don’t want to break up with you.”

“No, I heard you,” she replied. “It’s alright with me if you date Reggie while we’re also still dating. Like a polyamorous sort of situation.”

“You like Reggie too?”

Julie shook her head. “No, not as more than a friend. But if you like both of us then I want you to be happy. I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t sort of noticed it.”

“But will you be happy?” he asked.

“Whether you date Reggie too or not, I’ll be happy,” she replied. “Because either way, I still get to be with you, Luke.”

“Have I ever told you that you’re the best and more understanding girlfriend in the history of the world?”

She tried to shrug nonchalantly but the smile that was spreading across her face betrayed her. “Maybe once or twice but I still like to see it.”

He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’m gonna go talk to him right now. I love you!”

Julie laughed. “I love you too. Now go get your man.”

* * *

He poofed back to the house but only Alex was around so he poofed to a few coffee shops around town, most of which were closed for the night, before a thought tickled at the back of his mind.

He found Reggie at the beach where his neighborhood used to be, sitting in the sand and looking at the bike shop as a bunch of lifers had a bonfire party just next to him.

Wordlessly, Luke took a seat next to Reggie and put his head on his shoulder.

After a few moments, Reggie spoke. “I still don’t know where they are.”

“Your parents?”

“I don’t even know if they’re still together,” he continued. “Probably not. Especially after I died and everything. I always was the root of all their problems, even if they wouldn’t admit it. Stupid kid and then useless kid and then dead kid.”

Luke reached down and squeezed his hand. “Your parents having issues with each other has nothing to do with you. And you’re not stupid or useless. I can’t argue the dead part but you’re one of the best musicians that I’ve ever met in my life. You understand music better than anyone I know.”

“Well, that didn’t keep my parents together,” he replied. “And it won’t keep the band together either because apparently, I have to fuck all that up too.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Reggie took a deep breath before speaking. “I like you, Luke. I like you a lot. I mean, I sort of liked you back when you and Alex were together but I was able to push it aside because I respected your relationship and I tried to do that again because of you and Julie but it’s just too much. I can’t pretend like the feelings aren’t there anymore.”

“It’s not going to fuck up anything,” he promised him. “Because I like you too. And I already talked to Julie about it and she’s alright if we were to spend some time together too. If that’s what you want, of course.”

He smiled softly. “Really?”

Luke grinned. “Really. You know that song that we worked on earlier? Apparently, it’s about you. Somehow Alex was able to decipher that before me, but it’s true.”

“Did you figure out the lyrics?” he asked.

He poofed his guitar into his hands. “I think I’ve just come up with a really good chorus and I think that I would really like it if you heard it before anyone else.”


End file.
